Skip to main content

Community Voices in Energy national trainings are designed to prepare participants to address energy justice issues and drive change through energy regulatory cases that affect their communities.

Over the course of about eight bi-weekly virtual trainings, our 2024 national training explained and demystified traditional legal intervention in public utility commission proceedings, and how individuals can bring about a more just and affordable energy system through policy advocacy, organizing, and education.

Participants also gained insights from case studies such as amazing successes in Illinois.

At the end of the program the participants completed an impressive range of projects, many of which involved energy justice insights that helped scale the impact of the work. Participants received Energy Justice Intervenor certification showing that they had learned about navigating and influencing the energy regulatory system.

 

 

Sign up for our emails and stay up to date with Community Voices in Energy.

urban lights at night in winter
Media Article

Understanding energy behaviors for a more equitable future

Dr. Destenie Nock published a new study based on research in Chicago showing that low-income households turn on their cooling systems in hot weather three degrees later than higher income households, but they turn on heat in cold weather six degrees earlier than high income households, whether because of poor insulation or other reasons. “This work highlights the challenges low-income communities face. Not only are they at higher risk in the summer, but in the winter they have to spend a lot more money to protect their pipes from freezing,” noted Nock. “The financial stress of heating homes in winter can also lead to broader inequities.” Dr. Nock's data can be used to shape policies that address systemic inequities, guide investments in infrastructure, and help improve living conditions for energy-insecure and vulnerable households. Dr. Nock has provided expert testimony in Illinois rate case proceedings.
Naomi Davis, the founder of Blacks in Green, speaks to a crowd in downtown Chicago at a March 27 protest of Peoples Gas’ proposed rate increase. (Capitol News Illinois photo by Andrew Adams)
Media Article

Advocates Call on Regulators to Reject Natural Gas Rate Increases

Consumer advocates, environmentalists and Chicago residents gathered in front of the Chicago offices of Peoples Gas this week to call on the Illinois Commerce Commission to reject a proposed rate increase from the gas utility.
African American volunteer and her coworkers talk while organizing donations at community center.
Media Article

Advancing Environmental Justice through Community Based Participatory Research

A journal article from We Act for Environmental Justice, discusses how community based participatory research builds capacity in communities and ensures government agencies and academic institutions are better able to incorporate community concerns into their research agendas.
Chicago neighborhood
FeaturedMedia Article

The Expert Next Door

An article from the winter 2023 edition of EDF’s Solutions, about how EDF attorney Christie Hicks is working with communities in Chicago to get resident voices into the rooms where energy decisions are being made.